Cognia modernizes accreditation with new statuses and standard focused on student performance

Cognia is first accreditor to designate performance-based accreditation statuses, which incentivize improvement and help stakeholders make better use of accreditation results.

ALPHARETTA, Ga., Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- For more than a century, all institutions that met accreditation standards of quality in school performance have been recognized as an "accredited" school or system. Beginning this school year, Cognia^®, the nonprofit accreditation and school improvement organization, will assign schools and systems specific accreditation statuses.

The new delineation of accreditation status is intended to both recognize exceptional performance among institutions and to encourage stretch goals of continuous improvement. Schools and districts will earn the status of "Accredited with Distinction," "Accredited with Merit," "Accredited," or "Accredited Needing Improvement" based on the results of Accreditation Engagement Reviews and overall performance on Cognia's Index of Educational Quality (IEQ). The IEQ is used to assign scores between 100 and 400 reflecting a broad range of performance against Cognia Performance Standards.

"These designations will indicate which schools are doing exceptionally well and provide a more accurate depiction of a school or system's overall level of performance, offering policymakers and the public a clearer picture of institutional improvement," says Cognia president and CEO Dr. Mark A. Elgart. "We encourage schools to seek to continually climb to new levels of performance and higher quality. Cognia will provide additional supports—including regular monitoring, coaching, and guidance in executing changes that raise performance—to those schools and systems ranking in lower tiers of performance."

In addition, while Cognia has always used student achievement data as crucial subjective evidence in determining whether schools or districts should be accredited, beginning in this school year, Cognia will factor in direct, objective evidence of student performance and growth as part of the IEQ.

Cognia has introduced a new standard under Key Characteristic: Growth in Learning, which requires schools to demonstrate growth in student academic performance based on valid, balanced, and reliable assessments. The introduction of direct measures of student growth aims to create greater alignment with state accountability measures, which are primarily based on assessments. The change will also allow for cross-state comparisons of schools and help Cognia study how actions districts take to meet performance standards correlate with academic improvement.

Elgart notes that the standards focused on achievement and growth will enable Cognia to make comparisons across schools, states, and countries, and to study how changes in school and district policy and practice lead to academic improvement for students. For example, Cognia can use assessment scores to evaluate which practices and policies are working to help increase growth and raise achievement across various school and district types, demographics, and school communities.

"Student growth is particularly important," Elgart says, "because all schools—even high-performing ones—need to improve." 

About Cognia

Cognia^® is a forward-thinking nonprofit improvement organization committed to serving schools and other education providers. We offer accreditation and certification, assessment, improvement services, and professional learning within an evaluation and continuous improvement framework. Serving over 40,000 public and private institutions from early learning through high school in more than 100 countries and territories, Cognia brings a universally recognized perspective to advancing teaching and learning. Learn more at Cognia.org.

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SOURCE Cognia